Let's Talk About It - Patrickman!
Welcome to my new segment (that I might turn into videos) called Let's Talk About it, where people keep asking me to review episodes that aren't bad enough to be atrocities or good enough to be admirable, but still deserve a few comments. Today's episode is Patrick-Man! People keep wondering why it wasn't on my Worst Patrick's a Prick list, along with Driven to Tears, Rule of Dumb, and Patrick Smartpants... for some reason. I like all of those episodes, except Driven to Tears, which left me more conflicted than anything. I also like Patrickman, which really seemed to surprise a lot of people so let's talk about it. What separates Patrickman from episodes like Patrick's Staycation, Yours, Mine and Mine, and The Card? It's really simple, for the first time since, I can't even remember, Patrick's stupidity felt genuine. It didn't feel malicious or even hedonistic. The basic plot is that Patrick is feeling like he hasn't accomplished anything, a la Big Pink Loser, and decides that he wants to be a superhero. However, he's not very good at it and it causes a lot of trouble. First thing's first, what's the worst thing that Patrick does at failing to be a superhero? He starts getting laughed at in the Krusty Krab for wearing a ridiculous get up. Okay, nothing bad here. He stops some kids from high-fiving, nothing harmful here. Then we get the strangest scene of the episode. Mr. Krabs begins to help an old lady across the street through no benefit to himself. The first time watching this, I had to stop the video because I was so surprised. To this day, I don't know if I should be angry because that's out of character or if I should be happy because that's out of character. Of course, he abandons her to chase after a loose dollar. However, Patrick-Man! stops him from picking it up and the old lady gets the dollar. Holy shit, after like five seasons, they've finally figured out how to do a joke revolving around Mr. Krabs being cheap. Alright, the next part is Patrick getting Mrs. Puff arrested, and yes this is a bad part of the episode. But I don't count this as a bad episode for one bad joke or one off scene. I don't count Overbooked as a bad episode for the scabies joke after all. It's not like this isn't leading to anything though. It kind of reminds me of Spongebob's behavior in Hall Monitor, how he was breaking into houses and causing car crashes because he thought that he was helping. Also, except for the off Mrs. Puff scene, Patrick causing problems is treated as Patrick causing problems should be. People are getting fed up with him. Until the Dirty Bubble appears and we've got an interesting fight scene. Patrick actually ends up winning, but even then Mr. Krabs gives Patrick a broom so he can make up for trashing the restaurant. Disregarding intentions, the worst thing that Patrick did was put someone in jail and ate people's food. Beyond that though, his stupidity felt genuine. Throughout the episode it seemed to come from somewhere unlike in Patrick's Staycation, it didn't seem intentional unlike in The Card, and it truly seemed like he thought that he was helping. Honestly, really feels like Patrick's version of Hall Monitor, like Not Normal is Spongebob's version of Patrick Smartpants. Category:Miscellaneous